"The Woman Next Door" and "Dele Weds Destiny"

Two novels I read this month are set in Africa. “The Woman Next Door” (Picador, 2016), by Yewande Omotoso, takes place in South Africa, and “Dele Weds Destiny" (Knopf, 2022), by Tomi Obaro, takes place mostly in Nigeria. Omotoso’s book focuses on two older women – both widows, both successful, one Black and one White -- who live next door to each other in a mostly white neighborhood in a suburb of Cape Town. They do not like each other at all, and Hortensia feels that Marion does not understand racial issues. Each woman is portrayed with understanding, pathos, humor, and most of all with dignity. Events bring them together in a common cause, and they become something close to friends. This perhaps sounds schematic, but the author reveals the gradual change in a believable way. Obaro’s book, in contrast to Omotoso’s, focuses on three young women in Nigeria who become friends during college, then go in different directions, but are always connected. They come together for the wedding of the daughter of one of the women, and various tensions and truths are revealed. Both novels deal with race, gender, class, family, culture, women’s friendships, and the effects of time on all of us. Both also have engaging characters and intriguing plots.